Adania Shibli

Gulf Today Report

Sharjah Book Authority has announced that they have withdrawn from Frankfurt Book Fair after an award for a Palestinian author was pulled out from the event

Sharjah Book Authority said on X platform, “Given the recent announcement by the organizers of the Frankfurt @Book_Fair, we have decided to withdraw our participation this year. We champion the role of culture & books to encourage dialogue & understanding between people. We believe that this role is more important now than ever.”

According to the organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Palestinian author and essayist Adania Shibli was scheduled to be awarded the LiBeraturpreis literature prize.

The award was for translation of her novel Minor Detail.

The novel depicts the life of a Palestinian woman raped by Israeli soldiers in 1949 and touched upon the violence, memory, and the sufferings of the Palestinian people.

The Sharjah Book Authority and the Emirates Publishers Association were set to participate in the event.

German public and state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that the award organisers ceremony was cancelled the event at the last moment in agreement with Shibli.